WayHome, the summer’s most over-the-top music fest
For the season’s most jam-packed music festival, head straight to cottage country. This year, the camping/carousing/concert-going blowout features LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire and The Killers, to name just three. (And Kurt Vile, Third Eye Blind, Metric, CHVRCHES, Major Lazer, HAIM and Mac DeMarco, to name several more.) Friday, July 22 to Sunday, July 24. $210–$280. Burl’s Creek Park, 443 Lakeshore Ave., Oro-Medonte, wayhome.com.

The return of David Cross’ election-year anticsThe Arrested Development star returns to the satirical stand-up that made him a vital presence during the Bush administration. Now that Donald Trump is in the running to take over Dubya’s old job, expect Cross to tackle time-worn topics like religion, gun control and the right-left divide with renewed gusto. Sunday, July 24. $49.50. Danforth Music Hall, 147 Danforth Ave., davidcrosstour2016.com.

Lamb skewers, fresh off the grill, at the T&T Waterfront Night Market. Photograph by Igor Yu

A slice of the Pacific on Lake OntarioT&T Supermarket’s popular summertime tradition brings the hustle, bustle and delicious tastes of an Asian night market to Toronto’s waterfront. Vendors will offer up tofu, yakitori, lobster and mussels, along with more exotic fare for the adventurous gourmand. Squid on a stick? Grilled pig trotters? Oyster omelettes? Don’t knock ’em till you’ve tried ’em. Friday, July 22 to Sunday, July 24. Food prices vary. 222 Cherry St., waterfrontnightmarket.com.

Shaw Fest’s biting appraisal of ApartheidSouth African playwright Athol Fugard shocked his homeland with “Master Harold”…and the Boys, a powerful depiction of Apartheid. On its surface, it’s an account of a rainy afternoon that a white teenager spends with two black servants who helped raise him. Creeping beneath the innocent scene is an incisive commentary on racism that’s as valid now as it was in 1982, when the play was banned in its home country. Friday, July 22 to Saturday, September 10. From $35. Court House Theatre, 26Queen St., Niagara-on-the-Lake, shawfest.com.

The homey, wholesome Hillside festival
Hillside is the anti-WayHome: it gets its mojo from its picturesque locale, it rejects corporate sponsorships, and its eco-conscious food vendors serve up hearty local fare instead of $11 tallcans of Bud. This year, Polaris winner Buffy Sainte-Marie teams up with indie-rock outfit the Sadies, and Halifax supergroup TUNS blazes through their upcoming debut album. Friday, July 22 to Sunday, July 24. $57–$146. Guelph Lake Conservation Area, 341 Woolwich St., hillsidefestival.ca.

A three-day beer bacchanalIf you’re going to pick a place to let loose and get day drunk this summer (not that you have to pick just one), make it the Toronto Festival of Beer. Now in its 22nd year, the three-day bacchanal serves up tall, frosty brews from more than 100 local and international brewers, along with nosh from food vendors, historical seminars and live music by British blues band the Temperance Movement. It’ll be worth the hangover. July 22 to 24. $42.50. Bandshell Park, Exhibition Place, ­416-635-9889, beerfestival.ca.

Dave Matthews Band. Photograph courtesy of RCA Records

Dave Matthews’ sentimental 25th-anniversary concertYou adored him in high school—and, let’s be honest, you still (secretly) love him now. Matthews and co. celebrate their 25th anniversary with this nostalgic tour. They have no new album to plug, so expect a quarter-century’s worth of sensitive and sometimes shatteringly high-pitched hits, including the enduring anthem “Crash Into Me.” July 19. $52–$95. Molson Amphitheatre, 909 Lake Shore Blvd. W., ticketmaster.ca.

The Dance of Death, an absurd satire of married lifeAugust Strindberg’s acidic comedy anticipated marriage-as-battlefield plays like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Set in a sprawling fortress on a remote island, it follows a squabbling, reclusive couple—abandoned by both their children and servants—as a cousin enters the crossfire of their deadly duelling. Saturday, July 23 to Saturday, Sept. 10. From $35. Studio Theatre, 10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake, shawfest.com.

Johnne Phinehas. Photograph by Suresh Dosh

A celebration of Sri Lankan street foodFans of kothu roti, a Sri Lankan specialty, won’t want to miss this Sunday’s second annual Kothu Fest, when 11 kothu masters from all over the GTA (including Saffron Spice’s Johnne Phinehas, pictured above), will fill Albert Campbell Square with their takes on the iconic dish. Attendees will also be able to enjoy live music, cooking demos and eating contests. Free. Sunday, July 24. Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Dr., kothufest.com.

A glimpse at the process of one of the world’s great architectsÁlvaro Siza: Gateway to the Alhambra uses sketches, renderings, models, photos, video and historic artifacts to peer into the creative process of Siza, the Portuguese architect known for his clean, stark-white constructions (including the new visitor centre at the Alhambra, Spain’s iconic Islamic palace). In the process, the show also tells the 1,200-year story of the living historic site. To Sunday, January 8, 2017. $20. Aga Khan Museum, 77Wynford Dr., agakhanmuseum.org.